Chapter 8

A/N: The character of Mia is my amazing friend Kat's OC. Happy Birthday Kat! Love you hon!

"Are you happy?" Jack asked Matt, matching his stride as they hiked towards the beach.

"Right now?" Matt asked, and grinned. "Yeah. But were you asking about anything more specific?"

"With the caves," Jack laughed. "Living in the caves."

"I am," Matt answered, nodding his head. "I really am. I just wish Kate and Mia would come live there too. I hate having to hike to visit my friends."

"I'm not good enough now?" Jack asked, and Matt halted in his tracks.

"You are more than good enough," Matt said insistently, and then caught the grin Jack was fighting back. "Not fair! You just wanted to hear me say nice things about you."

"And you did, so I win," Jack bantered back. Matt opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of intense shouting reached them, and Matt and Jack took off running for the beach.

The sight that met them was Sun, Jin's hand clenched around her bare arm, Michael's fist connecting with Jin's face. Sun screamed again, as Michael and Jin went rolling down the sand at her feet, fists flying, one wayward kicking foot connecting with Sun's ankle. She stumbled, and before Jack could even move Matt was there, throwing himself in front of Sun, reaching down in an attempt to separate the two swearing men.

"Get your hands off me!" Michael yelled, and threw a fist wildly, that connected solidly with Matt's face. He went down hard, and Jack was instantly there, planted in front of him, ripping Michael's shirt as he hauled him furiously to his feet.

"What the hell was that?" Jack yelled, planting his hands in Michael's chest to keep him from advancing. "You're acting like an idiot, and so you decide to hit the guy who's trying to stop you from hurting Sun? Get out of here. Take a damn walk, so you can cool off." Michael opened his mouth, and Jack glared him down. "Now. That's not a request."

As Michael stalked off, Jack turned and reached a hand down to Matt. "Hey, you ok?" Matt practically shot backwards, the swelling in his face unable to conceal the terror in his eyes. Before Jack could even blink, Matt was running, sand flying furiously behind him as he disappeared into the trees. Jack stood frozen, eyes still on the spot where Matt had been.

*****

Mia silently moved the last tree branch aside. Matt hadn't been hard to track, crushed branches trailing in his wake, and choking sobs clearly audible as soon as one got close enough. Kate and Claire had followed her, and the three women now walked carefully up to Matt, keeping their distance until he looked up.

"You don't have to say the word," Mia said softly, sitting down in the sand next to him, careful to leave a little space. "I never did. I used to make up words, my mom flibbered my dad, my dad poshened my mom, it was stupid, but it kept me a little bit sane."

"I took up taking risks," Kate said, just as softly, settling on Matt's other side. "I didn't have to talk when I was on my motorcycle, didn't have to watch the bruises turn colors on my mom's face."

"My dad just wasn't around," Claire whispered, laying her head on Matt's lap, his hands reaching to brush the dirty bangs off her face. "And then one day he just comes up to me in an airport, with my mom in a coma, and wants to be friends. And I walked away."

"I was abused," Matt whispers, and the words leave tears streaking down his black and blue cheek, and Kate and Mia's arms are around him, Claire turning and sitting up so he can burrow his head in her shoulder.

"Do I need to go threaten your ex-husband?" Mia said sternly, grinning as she brought a laugh bubbling past Matt's pained lips. Kate started at the word "husband", her hand slipping off Matt's shoulder for a second. "What, do I not seem the threatening type?"

"Oh, you seem plenty threatening," he laughed, taking her hand in his. "You're a very sweet threatening. But how do you know it was my ex?"

"Well you must have divorced him, because no one would be stupid enough to give up someone as hot as you," Mia bantered back, and kissed Matt's cheek as he laughed again, and then hugged him tightly. "No one's ever going to hurt you again, ok? Because I will assuredly use my awesome badassery against them."

"And I may not look threatening with the whole pregnant thing and all," Claire added, attempting a fierce glare that sent both her and Matt into fits of laughter, "but I have a hidden arsenal of…Australian kung fu, and I will use it in defense of my Matt."

"I was just going to drive the getaway motorcycle," Kate interjected, the smile back on her face, and the group dissolved into helpless peals of laughter. Mia caught her breath and looked up, and turned her softened eyes back on Matt.

"There's someone here who wants to check in on you," Mia said with a gentle smile, squeezing Matt's hand before getting up, Kate and Claire following her back towards the beach. Matt looked up to find Jack, standing a few inches away, arms stiff at his sides, tears wavering in his eyes. Matt stretched out his hand and Jack took it, pulling Matt to his feet and into a tight embrace.

"Are you ok?" Jack asked, and Matt nodded, face pressed into Jack's shirt.

"Everyday, a little bit more," Matt answered, and Jack's arms became even tighter.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered into Matt's ear.

"For what?"

"For not meeting you sooner, so I could have protected you." Jack pulled back slightly, cupping Matt's swollen cheek tenderly in his hand. "But I'm with you now, and no one's ever going to hurt you again. I'll use my…my magic scalpel on them." Matt burst out laughing and a relieved grin swept across Jack's face.

"Well no one can win against a magic scalpel, that's what I hear," Matt said with a smile, settling back into the sand, Jack's shoulder pressed reassuringly against his. There was silence for a second, suddenly broken by Matt's deep breath as the darkness began to fall around them. "We met when we were both cops in a special victims unit. Not something you'd ever see coming, because a cop who spends all day watching abused children get sent back home with their abusers would never hit their spouse, right? And no cop who saw a heartbreaking parade of abusers and abuses everyday would ever miss the signs and let themselves be abused, right?"

"You didn't miss any signs," Jack said fiercely, wrapping his arm around Matt's shoulders, pulling him closer. "You didn't do anything wrong. Not a thing."

"It took Jordan almost getting hit for me to take a stand," Matt said in a whisper. "I came home and she was a second away from being hit, all because she'd taken a stand for me, and that was it. No one was ever allowed to hurt her, and I couldn't believe I'd let it get that far, that I'd almost failed her that drastically. She was always looking out for me, trying to get me to some sort of shelter, and I almost let her get hurt."

"But you didn't," Jack whispered, matching Matt's volume, resting his head on Matt's hair. "You didn't. You took care of your little sister."

"And then I left," Matt said, so quietly, the tears coming again. "I didn't know what to do, because when your abuser's a cop, going to the cops doesn't make sense. I knew she'd be safe when I was gone, so I gave her a kiss and a hug, and told her I loved her, and that I'd be back as soon as I got myself figured out. It's her birthday today, and she doesn't even know if I'm alive."

"Well then we'd better give her a celebration," Jack said, laying a hand over Matt's heart. "One she feels right here, so she'll know."